CICLO ACADEMY TRAINING BOOTCAMP.

Taking it to the next level.

By Veloscope

September 4^th, 2017

Big dreams, being stronger in your circle of fellow riders, investing couple of hours of training on your bike and most importantly having age by your side and winning couple of domestic races - Will that complete your story of signing contracts for a Professional Cycling Career? May be but not in that order. It could be the lowest most steps of the long ladder that you need to climb in order to be a pro rider.

So what does it take to be a pro rider? Time, hard training, national and regional wins, money are few determining factors. Does India not have enough good talent? What are we lacking? Well, a lot of things - infrastructure, support system, structured training, awareness and recognition to the sport nationally and lot more. India has an immense potential and one way to get closer to our goals of a global representation is to tap the young talent and give our riders an International exposure and nurture them to their excellence in the field.

the camp!

Ciclo Café was formed with a similar vision to bring together members of the cycling community, increase awareness about cycling and foster cycling excellence in the community and nurturing young talent by exposing them to cycling at an International level with the professional cycling expertise of Ciclo Team Racing! Becoming a professional cyclist requires not just talent but an entire support system that CICLO aims to provide to its riders.

As a first step Ciclo Academy organized their 1st edition of the Ciclo Academy Training Boot Camp - A three day event in Bangalore led by multiple-time National Champions in the ITT - Naveen John with a goal to provide world-class training and insights to aspiring and upcoming cyclists who are looking to gain a competitive edge in racing at community/state/national and most importantly beyond the nationals.

Boot camp saw an enthusiastic participation of total 32 young, amateur and competitive racers who registered for the event which rolled out in the stunning surroundings of the Discovery Village at Nandi hills.

the day Before :

Naveen John, India’s first International pro cyclist and Ciclo team director, mentor and rider interacted with the participants drawing a clear picture of the current Indian cycling scene, defining the objectives of the Boot camp, laying down the future goals and connecting it with the current level of Indian cycling and emphasized on the work needed to get to those goals.

FIX 'EM UP.

Riders interacted with their fellow mates and post the ice breaker session the weary hours of the night were spent getting their bikes and gears set up of the T for a smooth ride for the Day1 of the camp.

DAY 1.

At 5:30 am, Riders assembled and after a quick ice-breaker session left for a spin around the beautiful Nandi Hills. Learning about the riding etiquettes, do’s and don’ts and plentiful of other learning. An easy day on the bike, not!

It in fact, had the most interesting bits of the camp - individually-timed events of 2KM and 7KM rides up Nandi Hills with an intense effort accomplished by all the riders. And some of the younger riders finished with the fastest timings, too! The rides established a fitness baseline for the cyclists - which will help them figure out their progress in future rides. A knowledge discussion took place in the evening with an exchange of ideas about cycling misconceptions.

The fastest Indian on two wheels (different set of two wheels though), C.S. Santosh also joined the camp, learning a few things and putting himself to test and on the grilling Nandi Hill climb.

DAY 2.

The group headed out to Century Sport Village about 30 kms. from camp to do a recce for the next day’s BBCH Criterium race, which would be the culmination of the camp and learn skills that will equip them to ride safer and more efficiently, with the help of cornering drills, balancing techniques, efficient pedaling techniques yielding improvements in endurance and much greater power output and using judgment in different situations and a few pro tips&tricks from his experience in the International events by Naveen John .

the learnings.

Both the days were rounded off with knowledge sessions in the evening with detailed discussions and inputs provided to the riders from the data collected through the days exercises. This was perhaps, the most important part of the camp sessions as everyone had a chance to look back and have a review of their performances, see where they stood and identify their problems and strengths.

the race day!

The next day race at Bangalore Bicycle Championships was the exam day to implement the learnings and the techniques that were acquired and polished in the camp. Naveen gave a few quick words and a sighting lap to educate all the riders with the critical and technical points on the brand new course for the race.

The camp participants raced in various categories and put up their strong game in the Criterium. Riders saw themselves majorly improve with the tips and several practice sessions they had gone through.

The event however was headlined by the Team Ciclo sweeping clean the complete competition, as they lapped ever rider but one in the race, with the youngest rider of the group Aman Punjani winning the race The level of cycling shown by the team was reminiscent of what Naveen John repeatedly mentioned during the three days of camp - "As a professional rider you have to look beyond the nationals".

Riders with bellies full of fire, a well drawn out plan dealing with the intricacies of the craft, India's best pro cyclists to share their expertise and a location you could plan a weekend getaway to, a brilliant one of a kind experience. What a start!